The MoFo Top 100 of the 1940's

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Save the Texas Prairie Chicken




Well, here we are again, preparing ourselves for yet another countdown. This time it is the 1940’s. This is a decade countdown that I have been anxiously awaiting.


The 1940’s was a time of world war and, ultimately, the post-war era. The films are very reflective of those two things. There seemed to be a variety of movies in every genre. From the light-hearted comedy to the serious drama. From westerns to musicals. From dark noirs to films that have a more nostalgic feeling to them. And, of course, films about war. Just the various names of the directors (i.e. Ford, Hitchcock, Welles, Capra, Kurosawa, Hawks, etc.) lets you know that this period produced some of the best quality and most well-made movies in film history.


I really started to become interested in older films when I was about 12 years old. I wasn’t entirely ignorant of the “classics”, though. I come from a family where movies of all sorts were widely watched by them. So I knew of such people as Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Gene Kelly, Katharine Hepburn, Alan Ladd, John Garfield, Gary Cooper, Veronica Lake, and so on. But, for whatever reason, during that time in my life (I really couldn’t tell you why), I would watch a black and white movie, or a colorful musical, on TV whenever the opportunity was there. I would “discover” someone “new” like Ray Milland or Joel McCrea or Greer Garson, and then if I saw one movie with them, I would then have to see another. And it was because of this that I began my obsession with films from that era. The 1940’s are my favorite decade when it comes to movies, and it is because of that fact that I was interested in running the 1940’s countdown. I thought that it would be a lot of fun for me, and I really hope that it will be fun for all of you, too.


Rules and Other Important Stuff to Remember

-Any film is eligible that was released from 1940 to 1949
-All lists should be PM’d to me, of course
-You must be a member for one month in order to submit a list
-If you are new to this sort of thing, you are asked to submit a list of what you consider to be your top 25 films from the 1940’s, with your top favorite being #1 and least favorite #25
-Partial lists will be accepted after Monday, July 31st
-The deadline for all lists will be Sunday, September 3rd
-All lists are final
-Please don’t share any part of your list until the films have been revealed on the countdown so that none of your votes will be disqualified
-The countdown will begin on Sunday, September 10th



For help regarding films to watch, and to consider for your lists, the following ones have been nominated in the various Hall of Fames:
Blithe Spirit
Foreign Correspondent
Late Spring
Letter From an Unknown Woman
The Shop Around the Corner
The Magnificent Ambersons
Brief Encounter
Leave Her to Heaven
The Best Years of Our Lives
(won)
The Great Dictator
Nightmare Alley
Out of the Past
The Third Man
Double Indemnity
The Lady from Shanghai
The Set-Up
Pinocchio
So Proudly We Hail
Red River
The Big Sleep
(won)
The Maltese Falcon
Scarlet Street
The Killers



And, of course, the films that were nominated in both of the 1940’s HoFs are an excellent way to find more to consider:
Waterloo Bridge
The Suspect
Murderers Among Us
Shadow of a Doubt
How Green Was My Valley
Rope
Arsenic and Old Lace
The Little Foxes
Laura
(won)
The Thief of Bagdad
Pursued
Fantasia
I Remember Mama
His Girl Friday
Odd Man Out
Gentleman Jim
Mr. Lucky
Beauty and the Beast
Day of Wrath
Body and Soul
The Sea Wolf
Ride the Pink Horse
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir



Don’t forget the 1940’s Recommendations thread that Camo created for us.


And if there is a film that I missed, and should now be added to the list of HoF films, please let know.


So, in conclusion, there will be 5 months of film-watching. Let’s try for an excellent turnout for this because it is a very worthy decade to have its own countdown, and it should definitely not be ignored.




Lists Received
7thson
77topaz
Beatle
Camo
Captain Spaulding
cat_sidhe
Citizen Rules
Clazor
cricket
dadgumblah
Dannii
Destiny
donniedarko
edarsenal
Fabulous
Frightened Inmate No. 2
Gangland
gbgoodies
Gideon58
GulfportDoc
Harry Lime
HashtagBrownies
Holden Pike
I_Wear_Pants
jal90
Jeff Costello
jiraffejustin
Iroquois
Kaplan
Loner
mark f
Marlon Brando
matt72582
Miss Vicky
MovieMeditation
Mr Minio
NedStark09
neiba
Nestorio_Miklos
Nope1172
Pussy Galore
rauldc14
re93animator
sarah f
seanc
Sexy Celebrity
Siddon
SilentVamp
SkyDog
spookiemoviemania
The Gunslinger45
the samoan lawyer
Thursday Next
TokeZa
urkillinmesmalls
Yoda
__________________
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe



Great! Thanks for volunteering to run the countdown, SilentVamp.
__________________
"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."



We're in good hands with Vamp doing the 40s Countdown!

The 1940's are a great decade (notice that I typed are as opposed to were...to me the 40's are only a click away, then they magically reappear on my TV screen)....I'm very excited about the 40s Countdown! This should be epic!

A big Thank You to SilentVamp for doing this for us



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
@SilentVamp Thank You!

The 1940's is one of the best decades for movies. I'm looking forward to this countdown.
__________________
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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Looking forward to this, glad you are hosting Vamp!

As with the previous decade, I've got about 12 definites, a cluster of other movies that could round out the top 25 and a watchlist about a mile long. I'm trying to be selective with my watchlist though, as I won't get round to everything.



I already have a great top 25, but I'm sure I'll discover some great new stuff in these next five months (especially since I'm going to have a lot of free time on my hands), so you can expect to receive my list a few days before the deadline.

Thanks for hosting this, @SilentVamp!
__________________
Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019



Glad you are doing this, i know you'll do a great job Vamp

Like Cobpyth i can send a list of 25 that i'd be happy with right now but i've got tonnes left on my watchlist. I've watched quite a few for this already and i have really liked the majority, actually i'm already at the stage where i'm eliminating films from the 25 and feeling bad about it because i like them alot. Great decade.



Looking forward to it SV !

This will be my first MoFo countdown and I plan to go on a 40's flicks watching spree before it.

If you don't mind asking, are the set dates definite or could they possibly be postponed for a tiny bit ?



Looking forward to it SV !

This will be my first MoFo countdown and I plan to go on a 40's flicks watching spree before it.

If you don't mind asking, are the set dates definite or could they possibly be postponed for a tiny bit ?
Obviously it's not my call but i don't think there should be any extension, that's already the longest we've been given as a deadline i believe at over 4 months.



Save the Texas Prairie Chicken
I've got about 30 favorites so far with about 100 left on my watchlist. I've got work to do.
That is an average of 20 films per month. You can do it!


I already have a great top 25
Like Cobpyth i can send a list of 25 that i'd be happy with right now
I had a list of 25 films last year already for this countdown. I thought it was pretty good. I thought that I would end up using that one. But I have watching a lot of movies in the past few months that are really making me reconsider what I have on the list. It will probably take me the whole 5 months just to decide which ones are on the list, and then I have the ordeal of where they should be placed.


If you don't mind asking, are the set dates definite or could they possibly be postponed for a tiny bit ?
I think it is best that these are the set dates. I did the math (and by "math" I mean counting the days on the calendar) at least 5-6 times. Truthfully, I have something that I will be going out-of-town for in early November. With what I had figured out, we would be finishing the countdown just in time for that. I really didn't want to up and leave this for awhile and then come back and finish it. That wouldn't be fair to anyone here. And I thought 5 months would be a sufficient amount of time for everyone (especially because I think it was 5 months last year for the 1950's - please correct me if I am wrong ) to watch whatever they needed to watch and to then send a list in. 4 months seemed too soon, and 6 months seemed maybe a little too much.



I think it is best that these are the set dates. I did the math (and by "math" I mean counting the days on the calendar) at least 5-6 times. Truthfully, I have something that I will be going out-of-town for in early November. With what I had figured out, we would be finishing the countdown just in time for that. I really didn't want to up and leave this for awhile and then come back and finish it. That wouldn't be fair to anyone here. And I thought 5 months would be a sufficient amount of time for everyone (especially because I think it was 5 months last year for the 1950's - please correct me if I am wrong ) to watch whatever they needed to watch and to then send a list in. 4 months seemed too soon, and 6 months seemed maybe a little too much.
Yeah, no worries I was just asking, because I figured I'd have a pretty decent amount of time in September, to prepare myself for the countdown even better.

5 months will be just fine !



Save the Texas Prairie Chicken
Looking forward to this! Thanks SV! Back to back Wisconsin presenters for the decade list!
Oh, that's right! I didn't even think of that. Well, that just puts the pressure on me then to do a good job. You did such a good job with yours that I can't fail now. I can't make Wisconsin look bad. I can't make it look like they have any dummies here who don't know how to handle one of these countdowns.



20 40's movies watched for me in May.


Come on folks!
Dang. I've watched about 30 40's movies all in for this. I already have a ridiculously tight list, i'm heartbroken any time i have to remove something.



2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
My list is going to be fairly tight too. I'm sure I'm going to see a few in the next couple months that should be on my list.



Don't count me in one hundred percent, but I may be able to squeeze a list in before September. I think a few people already know on here that I'm kind of a flake when it comes to these things.